Psalm 133. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year
and all that. Behold, how good and how pleasant
it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. It's like the precious
ointment upon the head that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's
beard, that went down to the skirts of his garments. As the
dew of Hermon and as the dew that descended upon the mountains
of Zion, For there, the Lord commanded the blessing, even
life forevermore. Let's pray. Lord, we so love your word. And Lord, we ask that we might
be enabled to enter into the reality of brethren dwelling
together in unity. Lord, that's above the strength
and energy of this flesh. We ask that you would give us
this for Christ's sake. Lord, how we thank you for Your
son, how we thank you for his glory and excellency, how we
thank you for his birth, how we thank you for his life, how
we thank you for his death and what it accomplished, how we
thank you for his resurrection, how we thank you for his present
intercession, and how we look forward to his return. Now, Lord,
bless us for the Lord's sake. Meet with us. Enable us to worship. Thy dear son, what a blessing it is to be together to worship you.
Be with all your people wherever they meet together. Forgive us
of our sins for Christ's sake, in his name we pray, amen. Now, if you look at the title,
you will notice this is called A Psalm of David, he's talking
about brethren dwelling together in unity. And David was a man
who knew so much of conflict, continual conflict in his life.
You know of his conflict with Saul and how for years he had
to try to escape from him killing him. Many years that took place
in his own household. He had two of his sons begin
a coup to try to kill him and take his throne. He had continual
conflict in his household. The Lord said to him, the sword
shall never depart from your house. So I have no doubt that
David had a special love for this thing of unity when he speaks
of brethren dwelling together in unity. Behold, verse one,
how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together
in unity and how ugly and how Unpleasant for brethren to dwell
together in disunity. But how good and how pleasant
it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. Now let's talk about
this thing of brethren. What a precious thing it is to
be one of the brethren. This is a special name for every
believer, the brethren. Hebrews 2.11 says, both he that
sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one for
the which cause he's not ashamed to call them brethren. What a special thing to be one
of the brothers, sisters. children of God. I think of Romans
8 29 for whom he did foreknow them he also did predestinate
to be conformed to the image of his son that he might be the
firstborn among many brethren. I think of Ananias coming to
Saul in Acts chapter 9 and Saul had been guilty of murdering
Christians and Ananias comes to him and says, Brother Saul,
isn't that glorious? Brother Saul, receive thy sight. Now we dwell together in unity
as we are all in the Lord Jesus Christ. Here's where our unity
is, being in him. Turn with me for a moment to
John chapter 17. Beginning in verse 20. The Lord says in verse 20, neither
pray I for these alone. but for them also which shall
believe on me through their word, that they all may be one. Now that's what unity is, that
they all may be one. As thou, Father, art in me, and
I in thee, that they also may be one in us, that the world
may believe that thou hast sent me, and the glory which thou
gavest me I've given them, that they may be one even as we are
one." Now you think of the oneness, the unity between the Father,
the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. What perfect unity. And he says
that they may be one because they're in me, because they're
in Christ Jesus. That they may be one as we are
one, I in them, thou and me that they may be made perfect in one
and that the world may know that thou has sent me and has loved
them as thou has loved me. Now to me that is I can't wrap
my head around that. That he loved me the same way
he loves his son. Now this demonstrates the unity
between the believers being in Christ and in one another. We're
all people in Christ who God loves us the way he loves his
son. That is Amazing. Now this is the unity
that believers possess. Now turn to Ephesians chapter
four for just a moment. Verse three, we're called upon
to endeavor to keep the unity of the spirit In the bond of
peace, this is something to be given much effort and diligence
at endeavoring. There's a lot of self-denial
involved in endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit in the
bond of peace. We're going to come back to that
at the end of this, but look what Paul says. Now, this is
the unity every believer has. There's one body. You know, there's
only one church. the Church of the Lord Jesus
Christ. You know all the denominations, Baptist, Catholic, Methodist,
Presbyterian, they're all man-made. They're seeking to make divisions,
they're seeking to be against the unity that every believer
possesses in Christ Jesus. Now you don't find anything about
denominations in the Bible. Is that so? Well, my denomination
is a little bit more accurate. That's a division. That's all
it is. There is one body, the church
of the Lord Jesus Christ. There's one spirit, verse four.
There's one spirit, God the Holy Spirit. You know the reason why
we have unity is because we have the same nature in the new birth. God the Holy Spirit gave us the
new nature, a holy nature, partakers of the divine nature. And because
of the one spirit, we're taught the same thing. We have the same
teacher. We don't have different teachers. We have the same teacher,
God, the Holy Spirit, and he teaches us precisely the same
thing so that every believer believes the same. We all look
to Christ as all in our salvation. And that's, we really believe
that because we have the one spirit. Even he says in verse
four, as you're called in one hope of your calling. Now, every
believer shares in this. We have one hope, one hope. It's the hope that I stand before
God because of what Christ did for me. I stand before God as
one who has never sinned. That's what justification is.
It's being righteous before God. And the reason I have that hope
as being one who has never sinned is very singular, is because
Christ took my sins upon himself and put them away and they are
gone and he gives his perfect righteousness to me, that one
who never sinned, that one who knew no sin, his righteousness
is my personal righteousness before God. That's my only hope. That's the one hope. And if you're
a believer, that's your hope too. Your hope is that The righteousness
of Jesus Christ, the life of Jesus Christ is your life before
God. And the reason that took place
is because he took your sins upon himself and put them away
and made them not to be. And here is your hope that you
stand before God simply because of Christ without sin. He says in verse five, there's
one Lord, the Lord of Lords. The King of Kings, the Lord Jesus
Christ, he's the one Lord. You know the scripture says no
man can say that Jesus is Lord, but by the Holy Ghost. Now obviously
that doesn't simply mean articulating it and saying it audibly. I've heard people say Jesus is
Lord and they didn't believe in his Lordship, but they said
it to prove it to everybody they've got the Holy Spirit. No, you
say truly what you believe in your heart. Do you believe that
Jesus is Lord? You believe that? He's the one Lord. And look what
he says next. One faith. The faith of God's
elect. The acknowledging of the truth,
which is after godliness. Every believer believes the same
thing. We believe that Christ is all,
don't we? We believe that he's everything in salvation. We believe
he's God. It's what we believe concerning
him. One baptism. Now, somebody might
say, it seems like there's more than one baptism in the scriptures.
Well, there is. There is. There's baptism by
immersion, water baptism. There's the baptism of the spirit.
The scripture uses that language. And there's the baptism Christ
experienced when he said, I have a baptism to be baptized with,
talking about the fire of God's wrath coming down upon him. And
he says, how is my soul straightened till it be accomplished? But
they all teach the same thing. Union with Jesus Christ When
he lived I lived that's the one baptism the gospel so clear in
baptism when he lived I lived When he died I was in him and
I died when he was raised from the dead I was raised from the
dead in him. There's one baptism. Now. This
is the unity of every believer and how good and how pleasant
it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. There's one God, verse
six, father of all. See, that's why we're brethren,
we have the same father. Father of all, you know, when we say
our father who art in heaven, we don't say my father, we say
our father. We're all members of the all, the our, our father. That's every one of God's elect
making that statement, our father, which art in heaven. Now, what
unity there is between believers because they're in Christ. That's
our unity. It's not uniformity. It's not
everybody trying to look the same and act the same and trying
to say the same things in order to be in the right group and
all that kind of stuff. It's not uniformity. It's true
unity in Christ. Now, he describes to us what
that is. Turn back to Psalm 133. This unity that every believer
has in Christ, it's like the verse two, it's like the precious
ointment upon the head that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's
beard that went down to the skirts of his garments. And this is
talking about Aaron, the great high priest. And it talks about
the precious ointment. that was poured upon his head,
that went down his beard, all the way down to the skirts of
his garments. This is the anointing of Aaron
the priest. And in Exodus chapter 30, verses
22 through 30, we're given the composition of the oil that Aaron
was anointed with. It was made of myrrh, cinnamon,
Calamus and olive oil, each one representing some aspect of the
Spirit of God, and it was poured over the vessels and Aaron, this
anointing oil. Now think about this. It was
poured on the vessels, it was poured on Aaron, and it came
all the way down to the skirts of his garments. That means Aaron's
the head, Christ is our head. And we're the body, and that
anointing oil covers us all. And the scripture says, anybody
that even came into contact with that oil, in Exodus chapter 30
verse 29, shall be most holy. Now you think of that. Anyone
that came even into contact with the anointing oil of the priest,
and this is us in Christ, he covers all the way down. I'm
covered with that holy anointing oil, the spirit of God that every
believer has. Now the spirit of the Lord is
upon me, the Lord said. He hath anointed me to preach
the gospel to the poor. Now our unity is that we're in
his body and that anointing covers us all, all together, even all
the way down to the skirts of his garments. Verse three, he
gives another example of this anointing. It's as the dew of
Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion. Now,
Hermon was 9,000 feet tall. Tallest peak in the Appalachian
Mountains, which is the ones we're most familiar with, is
not even 8,000 feet. So this is higher than anything
in the Appalachian Mountains. It was right by the sea, and
it always, because of its proximity to the sea, it always had dew
on it. And this is talking about the continual due of the Spirit
of God, the anointing of the Spirit of God that every believer
possesses. Every believer has the Holy Spirit
and is anointed by the Holy Spirit. And that's Christ in you, the
hope of glory. Somebody says, well, give me,
explain that distinction. I can't do it. Christ is in me. God the Holy Spirit is in me,
covering me as the Mount Hermon, the dew continually covered it. Now look what it says. As the
dew of Hermon, as the dew that descended upon the mountains
of Zion, for there the Lord commanded the blessing, even life forevermore. Now, I love the way the gospel
is not an offer. I hate it when preachers say
God's offering this to you or God's offering that to you as
though as if it's up to me to accept it or reject it. My salvation's
dependent upon whether or not I accept it or reject it. Now,
all that is is salvation by works in another form. That's all that
is. Salvation is God's commandment. He commanded the blessing. David said, thou hast given commandment
to save me, and I, Lord, give commandment to save me. There
he commanded The blessing, even life, the life of Jesus Christ
forever more. What a glorious gospel, the completeness
we have that we're in Christ Jesus and what, what unity we
have in Christ. Now, I want you to turn back
to Ephesians chapter four. How good and pleasant it is for
brethren to dwell together in unity. and how ugly and unpleasant
it is for brethren to be not in unity. Now somebody says,
how could that possibly be? I can answer that question real
easily because we're still sinners. Believe that? We're still sinners. Now in Ephesians
chapter four, I want you to look with me again. Verse one, I therefore the prisoner of the
Lord. I love Paul saying that he's
writing from a prison cell and he says, I'm the Lord's prisoner.
The only reason I'm here is because the Lord has put me in this prison
cell and I'm the Lord's prisoner. Isn't it a glorious thing to
be the Lord's prisoner? Whatever it might be, I'm the Lord's prisoner.
I, therefore the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that you
walk worthy of the vocation of the calling Wherewith you are
called, and how do you walk worthy? With all lowliness." Humility. All humility. Now, what is humility? Charles Spurgeon said, humility
is a just estimate of yourself. I think that's a good definition,
isn't it? A just estimate of yourself. You see, we have far too of a
tendency to think too highly of ourselves. Humility is a just
estimate of yourself. I am what I am by the grace of
God. That's a just estimate of yourself.
I understand I'm a sinner. And that's by the grace of God
that I understand that. I understand my need of Christ.
That's by the grace of God I understand that. I understand I'm a justified
sinner. That's by the grace of God. I
understand I'm a safe sinner. That's by the grace of God. Humility
is a just estimate of yourself. It's not phony. Somebody says
we need to act humble. There's a real problem with that
because it's an act. Whenever you act humble, it's just putting
on. This is not about acting humble.
This is about being humble before the Lord. With all lowliness and meekness. This is the worthy walk. Meekness is your attitude towards
God. Humility is before God, but it's before men as well.
Isn't it amazing how you like a humble person? Even in the
world, somebody that's humble, you like. Somebody that's arrogant,
you don't like them. Meekness is an attitude before
God that you believe that whatever he brings your way is right because
he's God. Whatever he does is right. You
bow before him with all meekness and long-suffering. Forbearing
one another in love. Now, this is so important. Putting
up with one another. That's what that means. Being
long-suffering with one another, putting up with one another. Every human being you know is
a flawed individual. And you and I are the biggest
flaws of the bunch. You believe that? Everybody is
flawed. Those flawed people are people
that Jesus Christ loves. Forbearing one another in love,
loving those people. They're the brethren. Forbearing
one another in love, endeavoring, giving every effort to keep the
union of the spirit in the bond of peace. How good and how pleasant
it is when brethren dwell together in unity, how ugly and unpleasant
it is when brethren do not dwell together in unity, but they're
tooting their own horn, as it were. Now, I got this from a
message by Henry Mahan that I wanna give to you, that he talks about
the keys of of dwelling together in unity. Number one, he said,
love one another. Love one another. God is love. He that loveth not knoweth not
God. God is love, not here's love and God fits that description.
He is love. Love. one another, that love
that's described in 1 Corinthians chapter 13. Number two, avoid
debate and contention. Just avoid it. By pride only,
this is what the wise man said, by pride only cometh contention. Avoid debate. Avoid contention. And then he said, avoid jealousy. Being jealous of somebody because
they have something you don't have, and it's twin sister envy. That feeling of displeasure in
seeing the prosperity of somebody else. It's so ugly. It's in us. It's in us. It comes out of our
natural fallen spirit. Ask the Lord to deliver you. I'm asking the Lord to deliver
me from being jealous or envious of somebody. It's so ugly. Love envieth not, scripture says. And then he said, I love this one. Learn to mind
your own business. What's the song? If you mind
your own business, you won't be minding mine. But mind your
own business for unity's sake. Do not meddle. The scripture
says study to be quiet. and do your own work. Mind your
own business. Whatever it is you're upset about,
you don't understand the facts about it. You don't need to get
involved with them. Mind your own business. What peace there is in folks
just minding their own business, not meddling in things that they
don't have anything to do with. Mind your own business. And then
the next thing he said was, avoid being easily offended. Don't
you hate being around people you got to walk on eggshells
around them? Just overlook stuff. You don't
know why they said that in the first place. As far as that goes,
you said worse concerning them. Just don't be easily offended. The only reason I become so easily
offended is because I'm so proud. Don't be easily offended. Just
overlook things. They didn't mean that in the
first place. They didn't mean what you're interpreting it to be, just overlook
it. They offended me, overlook it. Then, this is so important, if
you want to endeavor to keep the unity of the spirit and the
bond of peace, learn to keep a confidence. Love covers a transgression,
but he that repeateth the matter separateth very friends." Learn
to keep a confidence. Here's the next thing he said,
be a peacemaker. Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they shall be called the children of God. And then the
last thing he said, I love this, he said, be quick to forgive
because we'll break every one of those things. So be quick
to forgive, quick, quick to forgive. Somebody's going to betray your
confidence. Forgive them. Be quick to forgive. Somebody's
going to be envious and jealous of you. Well, you've been that
way too. Be quick to forgive. Remember, we are brethren. How good and how pleasant it
is for brethren to dwell together in unity. Think of the unity
we have in Christ. I mean I'm looking at some people
who actually love Jesus Christ and people who Jesus Christ actually
loves. how good and how pleasant it
is. And should we not all endeavor,
give every effort to keep the unity of the spirit. I was going
to call on self-denial on my part. If I'm going to be at unity
with you, I'm going to have to deny things that just come out
of my flesh that would cause disunity. May God give us all
grace to endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond
of peace.